Ohio State 48 Northwestern 7

Following up on last weeks 40-2 trouncing of Indiana, the Buckeyes played their last game of the season at home against Northewestern and came away with a 48-7 victory. We were out most of the day and didn’t get to watch the game, again, but this pretty much sums it up:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A.J. Hawk got his career at Ohio Stadium going with a touchdown, then said goodbye to a home crowd of 105,00 the same way.

Troy Smith ran for two touchdowns and Hawk returned a blocked punt for another score to lead 10th-ranked Ohio State to a 48-7 victory over No. 25 Northwestern on Saturday, the Buckeyes’ fifth consecutive win.

“I’ve been coaching football for 30 years,” Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. “I’ve seen a lot of good football players — but I haven’t seen any better than A.J. Hawk.”

Next week its the annual season finale against Michigan, which will mean a little more for the Buckeyes than the Wolverines this time around:

Ohio State (8-2, 6-1) needs to win Saturday’s annual showdown with rival Michigan to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title.